Ello

At the bar he took up his drink. He tipped it to his mouth, turned, and looked out across the room. Everyone was isolated within their groups. He watched how they'd tiptoe on anxious feet when apart from their friends. He was at the bar alone, isolated within himself.

He looked at the women. They flipped their hair as their eyes flickered about the room. He could see they were half-wittingly engaged in conversation with their friends. Looking into the crowd, he tried to channel his desires onto a particular woman. He looked. Somewhere, he thought, there's a woman with magic in this room. He saw her in the far corner under the speakers, and walked over.

'It's a parade in here, huh?' he said.

'What?' she said, bending her head towards his mouth.

'This scene.' he said. 'It's all over the place but everyone is so stuck within themselves. It's crazy, y'know.'

'Oh,' she said, 'sure, I guess you're right.'

'Look there,' he said, pointing. 'You see those girls? How they're stuck to each other waiting for a hungry lion to break into their pack and hunt one down. Now look behind them, the two guys standing there also tied to one another watching the girls and wishing that something called fate would intervene into their night. It's such an obnoxiously refined game.'

'Where's yours?' she said.

'What?'

'Your 'pack'?' she asked.

'Oh, no. I'm not that way. More the 'lone wolf' type.' he said with a smirk.

'Sure.' she said. 'Why me, then?'

'Because there's something called fate.' They laughed together.

Eventually they were able to take a seat at a table. He bought drinks and refills when necessary. Slowly, they learned the little nuances of one another. And at the end of the night he asked to drive her home. She'd answered 'no' but he could see the hesitation in her eyes and the way the word awkwardly lingered about her lips.

'I hope you're not scared. I wouldn't take advantage of you.' he smiled. 'Okay, I'm lying. I would try, maybe, a little. But, you can handle me even if I do.'

'I better not even.' she said.

'So this is it?' he asked.

'Until you call me.'

'Or until I kiss you.' he said.

He pulled her close enough to smell the liquor coalescing with her sweat and her perfume. She barely resisted. Her hands grasped his hips. He could feel her warmth against his body. His mouth ached with desire as he looked at hers. Her eyes gleamed under the soft light of the street lamp as she waited.

He looked into her eyes and said, 'If I could tell you a poem about your lips, it would begin like this.'